24th July 2015 – Staff sickness levels – response to T&A

Our figures for sickness levels 2013 / 14 were 3.76% and for 2014 / 15 they were 4.46% – which is a slight increase of 0.7%

Nick Parker, head of Human Resources for Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, said there had been an increase in short-term absence related to flu, respiratory illnesses and gastro intestinal type illness, particularly amongst clinical staff, which has also been prevalent in our community and the wider population.

He said: “We are concerned that sickness levels for the Trust have increased slightly over the past year as health and wellbeing of our staff is important to us. If staff are unwell, we would not want them to be at work as patient care and safety are paramount.

Airedale Hospital’s HR staff are working really hard to support managers to help their staff to get back to work quickly when they do fall ill. They are also looking to build on previous work and trying to prevent ill- health in the workplace.

The HR team is launching a new wellness programme which focuses on eating healthily, exercising well and mental wellbeing. They are also piloting employee health initiatives to support staff with musculo-skeletal health issues, and stress and during the early stages of absence.